The Odessa Jackalopes, after a 1-0 SO loss to the MudBugs the night before, took the ice looking for redemption.
The 1st period started out on a bad skate for the Jacks, as under two minutes into the game, the Jacks would find themselves on the penalty kill. Not even a full minute into the power play the Bugs would send one toward the net, it would be deflected in front of the net off of a Jackalope and find its way in the back of the net to give Shreveport the 1-0 lead. The Jacks had two power play opportunities in the 1st period, but came up empty on both. The period would end 1-0 in favor of the MudBugs with shots on goal favoring the Jacks 10-9.
The 2nd period was nearly identical to the start of the 1st. The Jacks committed an early penalty and the Bugs capitalized on the power play, giving them the 2-0 lead. However, throughout the 2nd period, the MudBugs would be undisciplined and commit 4 penalties in the 2nd period. On the 1st power play of the 2nd period, the Jacks would find the back of the net as Hayden Demars weaved his way down to the blue paint and put one past the MudBugs goaltender to cut the deficit in half. The next two power plays were unsuccessful for the Jacks, but with under a minute to play, Michael Kadlecik found the puck at the top of the near faceoff circle and wristed one, glove side past Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau to tie the game at 2. Shots on goal that period were 11-10 in favor of the MudBugs.
The 3rd period began great for the Jacks. It appeared they came out with momentum and it only took a minute as James Richman fired one home for the Jacks, giving them their first lead of the game, 3-2. However, toward the 2nd half of the 3rd period is when the MudBugs came to life. The MudBugs would capitalize off of a defensive zone turnover, and Ryan Burke had all the time and space as he went bardown on Quentin Sigurdson to tie the game. Then in the last three minutes of the game a 2 on 1 emerged for Shreveport and Nick Marino made a beautiful saucer pass to Kyan Haldenby who made no mistake on the breakaway, notching his 2nd goal of the game. The Jacks would take their timeout at the 2:19 mark and pull the goalie in favor of the extra attacker. It wouldn’t be until about the 0:40 mark where the Jacks would have real opportunities at the net. In the dying seconds, Kadlecik wrapped the puck around the net and as the buzzer sounded, Kadlecik’s hands flew to the air like he scored at the buzzer, the official emphatically waved his hands signaling no goal. He motioned the MudBugs to the locker room and didn’t even bother taking a look at the play. As the MudBugs were halfway down the tunnel, he skates over to the Jacks bench and Jacks head coach Scott Deur told him he wanted to challenge the call. The referee skated to the locker room, made the MudBugs come back on the ice for the review and then went over to the off-ice officials box. The review in total took about three minutes, but after further review the officials did not have conclusive evidence that the puck went in the back of the net, signaling the game was over.
Following the game head coach Scott Deur said there are some things to work on after the Jacks PK went 1-3 on the night, “We were just too loose. When you play a team 4 times, you think you know what they’re going to do, so you anticipate it instead of doing our game plan. I thought we got away from that in the first period. That resulted in two of their goals. I think in the 3rd, we went down, but we were much better, we kept things tight and we were able to kill a penalty”
The Jacks fall to 8-10-4 on the season, while the MudBugs improve to 14-7-1 in their campaign. The next Jacks game is tomorrow, Sunday, November 26th vs. the Amarillo Wranglers at 3:15 P.M. CDT. Catch all the action on NAHLTV and YouTube with Brandon Luisi, the voice of the Odessa Jackalopes.
Reminder Jacks fans single game tickets are on sale and season ticket packages are still available. You can find them online or call 432-552-7825 and Tania can help you out. Come be a part of the Jacks family as we celebrate 27 continuous years of hockey in Odessa!